New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS) India captain Shubman Gill believes the ongoing ODI series against New Zealand will provide the team with valuable preparation for next year’s World Cup, with the conditions in the country expected to be similar to those likely to be encountered during the showpiece event.
With the World Cup scheduled to be played in October-November, Gill feels the timing of the series in early November will offer India an opportunity to familiarise themselves with conditions that could prove crucial during the tournament.
“The conditions that we’re going to get here are going to be a lot more similar to the ones that we’re going to get in the World Cup, especially playing here in early November. Usually, whenever we play in South Africa or in New Zealand or in Australia, we play around December, January and the World Cup being in October and November, so I think the conditions are going to be a lot more similar, and it’s going to be a really good experience for us,” Gill said in a video released by BCCI on X.
India head into Saturday’s match with a 1-0 lead in the five-match series after registering a rain-affected victory in the opening ODI in Auckland on Wednesday. The visitors chased down a DLS-revised target of 143 to take the lead.
However, rain could once again interrupt proceedings, with showers forecast in Wellington on Saturday, raising the possibility of another weather-affected encounter.
The Indian captain also revealed that he arrived early to get additional training sessions, particularly to understand the conditions and work on his game with the red ball.
“I wanted to get four or five extra sessions before I joined the team, mainly because of the red ball. I wanted to come here, work a little bit on my game, and see how the red ball is because I haven’t played a Test match here. I’ve played a couple of India matches but haven’t really played that much Test cricket here,” Gill said.
He also backed India’s pace attack, expressing confidence in the abilities of Anshul Kamboj, Aaqib Nabi Dar, Gurnoor Brar and Arshdeep Singh, saying their skill sets were suited to New Zealand’s conditions.
“With the wickets seeming around and giving good bounce, our fast bowlers, whether it is Anshul, Aqib, Gurnoor or Arshdeep, I think the skill set that they bring to the team in these conditions is tailor-made for them, and I’m really optimistic that they’re going to have a really good series,” he said.
Gill further praised the team’s performance in the preceding T20I series, which India won 3-2, saying the comeback victories in the opening two matches had given the side significant momentum ahead of the ODIs.
I think he (Shreyas) led the T20 series beautifully. You know, playing in a country like New Zealand and winning the first three matches is never easy, and more so the kind of situation we were in, in the first and in the second T20, from there making a comeback. You know, those are the kind of matches that completely change the momentum, and now the momentum is with us, having won that series, and a lot of our boxes are ticked, and New Zealand would look to come hard at us, which I think we are well prepared for,” he said.
India will now look to strengthen their position in the series with another victory in Wellington.
–IANS
sds/hs
